utila, the rest

i spent 6 days on utila.

utila is all about the diving. most of the people there take diving classes there, since it´s the cheapest place to get certified in the western hemisphere. i am already certified, but i hadn´t dived in 15 years. i did remember the only rule that is really necessary--"breathe"... or the long version --"don´t hold your breath while you ascend or your lungs will explode". anyway, i tood a little refesher class, preformed all of the tricks, and went for 2 dives.

i snorkeled. the snorkeling was better. i have confirmed once again that diving is stupid. you spend all sorts of money, you lug around all sorts of equipment, you can only stay down for like half an hour, yet the cool fish all hang out at snorkeling depth anyway.

i kayaked though a mangrove canal that bisects the island, and ended up on the deserted north side of the island. i saw some tasty looking tourquoise blue crabs. the trip back was treacherous, as the seas were extremely rough and i was constantly soaked by waves. i had to stop a few times and bail out the kayak.

one day i rented a bike. i got across the island, and the bike broke. i spent 2 hours walking it back. i got another bike and rode it to another corner of the island. at the furthermost point, the chain snapped. i spent 1 hour walking it back. i got into a huge all-spanish shouting match with the bike people, who would not give me my money back, and even worse had the nerve to accuse me abusing their bikes. all i did was ride them. anyway, fighting really brings out my best spanish, i must say. that wasn´t my favorite day.

i drank a lot of beer. every night there is different semi-secret location where all the locals go for their big night out. i ended up hanging out most of the time with 2 guys (a mexican and a belgian) who insisted upon finding that place each night. we always managed to do it. the mexican guy would spend each night hitting on chicks and complaining how stuck up they all were when he was rejected. it was literally difficult to walk a block without his stopping to put his moves on some unfortunate woman. though to his credit, he did find a local middle aged divorcee who wanted to marry him. the belgian guy´s favorite pastime was complaining about the price of everything even though the island was remarkably cheap, i thought. hanging out with those guys more than anything else would drive me to drink.